Capital poorly served by GPs who work out of office hours

London's GP surgeries are lagging behind the rest of the country in becoming more commuter friendly, figures reveal today.

Nationally the number of doctors offering extended opening hours increased by almost 10 per cent in the past month.

However, in London the figure rose by just four per cent. That means an extra 66 surgeries changed their opening times between June and last month.

The Government wants half of all GP surgeries to open in the evenings and at the weekends by the end of the year to make it easier for workers to get appointments. Figures for last month show 35.6 per cent of surgeries in the capital offer extended hours - up from

31.4 per cent in June. Nationally 37.8 per cent open late, an increase of 9.7 per cent since June.

The figures from the department of health show that patients in Bromley, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Newham and Westminster would struggle to find a doctor to see them outside office hours.

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the GP committee of the British Medical Association, said: "A lot of GPs work extended hours but are not part of the official government scheme so are not included in these figures. No GPs that I know work from nine to five."